Bears Measuring Up for Ryan Poles

Bears GM Ryan Poles sounded a great deal like he was building the $6 Million Man rather than a football team, although some of these players might eventually get more than $6 million.

"We continue to get better, bigger, stronger, faster," Poles said during the draft.

Faster was pretty apparent.

Another 4.44-second wide receiver in Tyler Scott and he's even faster in short space with a 1.51-second 10-yard split. The speed of cornerbacks Terell Smith (4.41, 1.5 split) and Tyrique Stevenson (4.45, 1.5) is greater on the combine time than either Jaylon Johnson or Kyler Gordon.

Bigger is apparent as well. Both Smith and Stevenson are 6 feet or taller. Johnson is 6 feet and Gordon a half inch shorter.

Drafting linebacker Noah Sewell in Round 5 definitely meant adding a bigger, stronger and faster player at his position. His 4.64 is in the top 33% for the 40 and 1.57 top 21% for 10-yard splits. His size at 246 pounds is top 22% of linebackers and it's quite a departure than the type of linebackers they had last year, 225-pound players. And at 27 reps in the bench press he was in the top 13% of linebackers.

It's here where there is a problem with the Bears draft class, a departure from this theme. Sewell, the fifth-round draft pick, bench-pressed quite a bit more than the two defensive tackles the Bears drafted.

Both defensive tackle Gervon Dexter and Zacch Pickens are bigger and faster, no doubt. Pickens at just over 291 and 6-3 5/8 is taller and not heavier than most defensive tackles. But the Bears brought him for three technique and 291 and this is actually fine for getting into the gap and then the backfield, especially considering he ran 4.89 seconds in the 40.

Dexter was even more phenomenal at 6-5 3/4, 310 with a 4.88-second 40.

The problem with both was being stronger. The two big defensive tackles didn't perform as well in the bench as Sewell, their linebacker. They both did 22 reps at 225 pounds, or in the lower 15% of all defensive tackles in drafts according to mockdraftable.com.

They'd better be quick into that gap and the backfield beccause they're not overpowering anyone.

To be sure, the Bears weren't looking for hunker-down types who took up two gaps at the line, but bottom 15% is pretty low.

Other notes from the measurables department about this Bears draft class:

Both cornerbacks are long-armed types, which is extremely desirable. Smith, with arms 32 7/8 inches is in the top 9% of all cornerbacks and Stevenson at 32 3/8 top 19%.

Scott is a real Smurf type receiver, even moreso than Darnell Mooney even though they're about the same weight. He's in bottom 20% for all receivers in height, weight, hand size and reach. However, his speed in both the 40 and 10-yard split is top 24% or better and even more impressive, his 39 1/2-inch vertical is top 11% and 11-foot-1 broad jump top 4%.

Scott is a real athlete who was an athletic clone for North Carolina wide receiver Josh Downs, who was drafted almost two full rounds earlier at 79th than Scott (133rd). Mockdraftable.com had the two at a 99% match in terms of all measurables. The problem for Scott was he had a knack for dropping passes, according to Pro Football Focus, at about an 11% rate has last year.

First-round pick Darnell Wright came in as a real athletic phenom for a big man with a 5.01-second 40, top 10% for offensive tackles of those ever measured at combines, and top 11% in weight at 333 pounds. His 9-foot-6 broad jump was top 6% and that's a good measurement to determine explosiveness.

However, everyone was concerned about Peter Skoronski's arm length for good reason, but no one is talking about Wright's arm length or hand size. His 9-inch hands are the bottom 1% for offensive linemen and his arm length of 33-3/4 inches is only better than 33% of tackles. If Skoronski's arms were a concern, how could Wright's not be?

Even seventh-round safety Kendall Stevenson had solid measurables, even if they were done at a pro day as he wasn't a combine invite. He ran 4.49 and had a 38 1/2-inch vertical leap. A vertical at a pro day is definitely a little more objective measure than the 40 time.

Seventh-round nose tackle Travis Bell didn't make it to the combine, either, but his one great stat for a player at his position is 30 reps in the bench press at 225 pounds. That would have put him in the top 24% of defensive tackles all time at the combine, and like with the vertical leap the bench press is a bit more reliable at pro days than the timed events like the 40.

The measurables do confirm Poles' successful mission statement for the draft, except for his defensive tackles getting stronger.

They may need to have Bell show the three techniques a thing or two in the weight room at Halas Hall to bring them up to acceptable levels.

Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven

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